White House Adviser on Comprehensive U.S. Approach to Yemen

White House Adviser on Comprehensive U.S. Approach to Yemen

08 August 2012

As Prepared for Delivery Remarks of John O. Brennan
Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism
Council on Foreign Relations
Washington, DC

“A Comprehensive U.S. Approach to Yemen”

Thank you, Margaret. And thank you to the Council on Foreign Relations
for the opportunity to discuss our ongoing efforts to help Yemen meet
the aspirations of its citizens and to counter the violent extremism
that threatens our shared security. I’m pleased to see so many friends,
colleagues and partners—inside and outside of government—who share the
Obama Administration’s commitment to a Yemen that is more secure,
peaceful, and just.

When the subject of Yemen comes up, it’s often through the prism of the
terrorist threat emanating from within its borders. And for good
reason. Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, is al-Qa’ida’s most
active affiliate. It has assassinated Yemeni leaders, murdered Yemeni
citizens, kidnapped and killed aid workers, targeted American interests,
encouraged attacks in the United States, and attempted repeated attacks
against U.S. aviation. Likewise, discussion of Yemeni and American
counterterrorism efforts tend to focus almost exclusively on the use of
one counterterrorism tool in particular—targeted strikes.

At the White House, we’ve always taken a broader view—both of Yemen’s
challenges and U.S. policy. Two months ago, however, a number of
experts on Yemen wrote an open letter to President Obama arguing that
there is the perception that the United States “is singularly focused on
AQAP” to the exclusion of Yemen’s broader political, economic, and
social ills. Among their recommendations—that U.S. officials publicly
convey that the United States is making a sustained commitment to
Yemen’s political transition, economic development, and stability. It’s
in that spirit that I join you today—both in my official capacity and
as someone who has come to know and admire Yemen and its people over the
past three decades.

I want to begin with a snapshot of where Yemen is today. Since assuming
office, President Hadi and his administration have made progress toward
implementing two key elements of the Gulf Cooperation Council Agreement
that ended the rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh and provided a roadmap for
political transition and reform.

As part of a military reorganization, powerful commanders, including
some of the former president’s family and supporters, have been
dismissed or reassigned, and discussions are underway to bring the
military under unified, civilian control. And just two days ago,
President Hadi took the important step of issuing a decree that
reassigns several brigades from under the command of Saleh’s son as well
as a leading Saleh rival, Ali Mohsin al-Ahmar.

In addition, to organize the National Dialogue, President Hadi has
appointed a committee with representatives from political parties, youth
groups, women’s organizations, the Southern Movement, and Houthi
oppositionists in the north—and that committee met for the first time
this week.

On the security front, government forces have achieved important gains
against AQAP. Today, AQAP’s black flag no longer flies over the city
centers of Ja’ar, Lawdar, or Zinjibar. As one resident said after
AQAP’s departure from these areas in June, “It is like seeing darkness
being lifted from our lives after a year.” Elsewhere in Yemen,
checkpoints are being removed. Businesses are reopening. Public
services have resumed in major cities, and public servants are getting
paid. The energy infrastructure is slowly but surely being restored,
including the Ma’rib pipeline, which supplies half of Yemen’s domestic
oil.

At the same time, Yemen continues to face extraordinary challenges.
Violence remains a tragic reality for many Yemenis. We saw this again in
last week’s clashes at the Ministry of Interior in Sana’a and in the
outrageous suicide attack in Ja’ar on Saturday that killed several dozen
innocent Yemenis.

Moreover, Yemen remains one of the poorest countries on earth, and
conditions have only been compounded by last year’s upheaval. Most
Yemenis still lack access to basic services—including electricity and
functioning water systems. Unemployment is as high as 40 percent.
Chronic poverty is now estimated at 54 percent. Ten million people –
nearly half of Yemen's population – go to bed hungry every night. One
in ten children does not live to the age of five.

President Obama understands that Yemen’s challenges are grave and
intertwined. He has insisted that our policy emphasize governance and
development as much as security and focus on a clear goal—to facilitate a
democratic transition while helping Yemen advance political, economic,
and security reforms so it can support its citizens and counter AQAP.

You see our comprehensive approach in the numbers. This year alone,
U.S. assistance to Yemen is more than $337 million. Over half this money
– $178 million – is for political transition, humanitarian assistance
and development. Let me repeat that: more than half of the assistance
we provide to Yemen is for political transition, humanitarian
assistance, and development. In fact, this is the largest amount of
civilian assistance the United States has ever provided to Yemen. So
any suggestion that our policy toward Yemen is dominated by our security
or counterterrorism efforts is simply not true. Today I want to walk
through the key pillars of our approach.

First, the United States has been—and will remain—a strong and active
supporter of the political transition in Yemen. That’s why President
Obama called on then-President Saleh to step down shortly after unrest
erupted last year. Having consistently advocated for an orderly,
peaceful transfer of power—despite claims by some that doing so would
jeopardize counterterrorism cooperation—we’ve worked hard to help
sustain the transition, facilitate elections, and promote an inclusive
National Dialogue. This past May, President Obama issued an Executive
Order authorizing sanctions against those who threaten the transition.

Going forward, we’ll continue to push for the timely, effective, and
full implementation of the GCC Agreement. During this delicate
transition, we call on all Yemenis – especially Ali Abdullah Saleh, Ali
Mohsin al-Ahmar, Hamid al-Ahmar, and Ahmed Ali Saleh– to show that they
will put Yemen’s national interests ahead of parochial concerns, and
abide by the letter and spirit of the GCC Agreement so that Yemen can
move toward a more inclusive democracy.

As we support the transition, our comprehensive approach has a second
pillar—helping to strengthen governance and the institutions upon which
Yemen’s long-term progress depends. Despite decades of rule by one man,
Yemen has a foundation on which it is building. The country has a
tradition of opposition political parties, a vibrant civil society,
independent media, and leaders who place the larger national interest
above politics, religion, sect, or tribe.

President Hadi is one such leader. This year, I’ve met with him twice
in Yemen and spoken to him numerous times. I’ve been impressed with his
commitment to his nation and his willingness to make difficult
decisions to move his country forward, even at great risk to himself.
The Yemeni people are very fortunate to have him as their leader.

We are helping strengthen Yemeni government institutions so that they
become more responsive, effective, and accountable to the people. We
are partnering with ministries to expand essential services, improve
efficiency, combat corruption, and enhance transparency. We will
support the reform of law enforcement and judicial institutions to
strengthen the rule of law.

Beyond government, we’re proud to continue our long tradition of
helping to strengthen the role of civil society to conduct parliamentary
oversight; raise public awareness on electoral reforms and Yemen’s
transition; empower women; provide leadership and advocacy training; and
build the capacity of political parties to engage in peaceful,
democratic discourse.

Of course, lasting political and economic progress is impossible so
long as half of Yemenis are malnourished and struggling to survive
another day. That is why the third pillar of our approach is immediate
humanitarian relief. This year, the United States is providing nearly
$110 million in humanitarian assistance to Yemen, most of it through the
UN’s Humanitarian Response Plan. This makes the United States the
single largest provider of humanitarian assistance to Yemen.

These funds are allowing our UN and NGO partners to provide food and
food vouchers, improve sanitation, safe drinking water, and basic health
services to help meet other urgent needs. USAID is providing more than
$74 million for food security and nutrition programs, enabling UNICEF
to rapidly scale up its assistance for starving children. With U.S.
support, UNICEF and the World Health Organization completed a
large-scale immunization campaign, which may have successfully halted a
polio outbreak that began last year.

Yet even with these efforts, so many Yemenis remain in desperate need.
We commend the EU for doubling its humanitarian aid to Yemen, and urge
other donors to follow suit by contributing more to the UN Humanitarian
Response Plan, which is less than 50 percent funded. This will provide
critical and life-saving relief to millions of Yemenis.

As we help address immediate humanitarian needs, we’re partnering with
Yemen in a fourth area—the economic reforms and development necessary
for long-term progress. In fact, the $68 million in transition
assistance and economic development that we are providing this year
includes vital assistance to improve the delivery of basic services,
including health, education, and water.

We are helping Yemen address its staggering health gaps by renovating
health clinics, providing medical equipment, training midwives and
doctors in maternal and child health, and supporting community health
education. We are helping to introduce farmers to more productive
techniques and provide youth with skills training, job placement, and
entrepreneurship programs.

We are helping Yemen rebuild infrastructure and promote micro-finance
and small businesses. We are encouraging efforts to stabilize the
economy and undertake reforms that will help raise living standards, and
promote a more diversified economy. And following Yemen’s successes
against AQAP in the south, USAID is supporting the Yemeni government’s
efforts to repair war-torn infrastructure and rehabilitate communities.

For its part, Yemen must have a plan to address unemployment and
poverty as well as develop, diversify, and reform its economy –
including by combating corruption so that government revenues and donor
funds are not diverted to private interests at the expense of the Yemeni
people. International donors want to know that their contributions
aren’t misappropriated and that the projects they fund are part of a
comprehensive plan. Providing a vision of where Yemen’s leaders plan to
take the country will help its friends invest wisely.

This brings me to the final pillar of our comprehensive approach to
Yemen—improving security, and combating the threat of AQAP. Put simply,
Yemen cannot succeed—politically, economically, socially—so long as the
cancerous growth that is AQAP remains. Ultimately, the long-term
battle against AQAP in Yemen must be fought and won by Yemenis. To
their great credit, President Hadi and his government—including Defense
Minister Ali, Chief of Army Staff General Ashwaal, and Interior Minister
Qahtan—have made combating AQAP a top priority and have forced AQAP out
of their strongholds in southern Yemen.

So long as AQAP seeks to implement its murderous agenda, we will be a
close partner with Yemen in meeting this common threat. And just as our
approach to Yemen is multi-dimensional, our counterterrorism approach
involves many different tools—diplomatic, intelligence, military,
homeland security, law enforcement, and justice.

With our Yemeni and international partners, we have put unprecedented
pressure on AQAP. Recruits seeking to travel to Yemen have been
disrupted. Operatives deployed from Yemen have been detained. Plots
have been thwarted. And key AQAP leaders who have targeted U.S. and
Yemeni interests have met their demise, including Anwar al-Aulaqi,
AQAP’s chief of external operations.

Of course, attention has often focused on one counterterrorism tool in
particular—targeted strikes, sometimes using remotely piloted aircraft,
often referred to publicly as drones.

In June, the Obama Administration declassified the fact that in Yemen
our joint efforts have resulted in direct action against AQAP operatives
and senior leaders.

This spring, I addressed the subject of targeted strikes at length and
why such strikes are legal, ethical, wise, and highly effective. Today,
I’d simply say that all our CT efforts in Yemen are conducted in
concert with the Yemeni government. When direct action is taken, every
effort is made to avoid civilian casualties. And contrary to
conventional wisdom, we see little evidence that these actions are
generating widespread anti-American sentiment or recruits for AQAP. In
fact, we see the opposite. Our Yemeni partners are more eager to work
with us. Yemeni citizens who have been freed from the hellish grip of
AQAP are more eager, not less, to work with the Yemeni government. In
short, targeted strikes against the most senior and most dangerous AQAP
terrorists are not the problem; they’re part of the solution.

Even as we partner against the immediate threat posed by AQAP, we’re
helping Yemen build its capacity to provide for its own security. We are
spearheading the international effort to help reform and restructure
Yemen’s military into a professional, unified force under civilian
control. In fact, of the $159 million in security assistance we are
providing to Yemen this year, almost all of it is for training and
equipment to build capacity. We are empowering the Yemenis with the
tools they need to conduct precise, intelligence-driven operations to
locate operatives and disrupt plots and the training they need to ensure
counterterrorism operations are conducted lawfully in a manner that
respects human rights and makes every effort to avoid civilian
casualties.

Finally, I’d note that our approach to Yemen is reinforced by broad
support from the international community. Throughout the last year, the
Gulf Cooperation Council, the G-10, the Friends of Yemen, the United
Nations, and the diplomatic community in Sana’a have come together to
push for a peaceful resolution of the crisis and to facilitate a
successful transition.

The international community has threatened UN sanctions against those
who would undermine the transition, provided humanitarian relief, and
offered assistance for the National Dialogue and electoral reform.
International partners—including the UK, Germany, China, Russia, India,
the EU, and the UAE—have pledged aid. Saudi Arabia offered $3.25
billion, on top of the significant fuel grants it gave Yemen to offset
the losses caused by attacks on oil infrastructure. As such, close
coordination with our international partners will be critical in the
years ahead.

These are the pillars of our comprehensive approach to Yemen:
supporting the transition, strengthening governance and institutions,
providing humanitarian relief, encouraging economic reform and
development, and improving security and combating AQAP. Taken together,
our efforts send an unmistakable message to the Yemeni people—the
United States is committed to your success. We share the vision that
guides so many Yemenis; a Yemen where all of its citizens – Shi’a and
Sunni, northerner and southerner, man and woman, rural villager and city
dweller, old and young – have a government that is democratic,
responsive, and just.

We are under no illusions. Given the tremendous challenges that Yemen
continues to face, progress toward such a future will take many years.
Yet if we’ve learned anything in the past two years, it’s that we should
not underestimate the will of the Yemeni people. Despite the seemingly
insurmountable obstacles in front of them, hundreds of thousands of men
and women took to the streets and engaged in political and social
movements for the first time in their lives—and in so doing helped pave
the way for change that just a few years ago would have seemed
unimaginable.

That Yemen did not devolve into an all-out civil war is a testament to
the courage, determination, and resilience of the Yemeni people. It
showed that Yemen’s future need not be determined by violence. The
people of Yemen have a very long and hard road ahead of them. But
they’ve shown that they are willing to make the journey, even with all
the risks it entails. As they go forward in pursuit of the security,
prosperity, and dignity they deserve, they will continue to have a
partner in the United States of America. Thank you very much.